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DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by 0.1%
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For the week ending September 27 2014, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer fell again by 0.1 percent to 98.2 as most indexes reported negative performances. Chain store sales declined by 0.2 percent mainly owing to underperformances in traditional grocery stores, online-only stores and office supply stores. As to the production side, almost all indexes declined, especially electric output, which dipped for three weeks in a row. Coal production and truck production also slumped, down by 6.4 and 1.2 percent, respectively.
On a year-over-year basis, the barometer showed a gain of 1.0 percent, which compares to an average -3.3 percent decline over the Great Recession (ended in June 2009 according to the NBER). After flat lining in 2006, and declining from 2007 through 2009, the barometer bounced back in 2010 to rise by 3.4 percent, which was the strongest increase since 1994 (+4.0 percent), but not so impressive when compared to an -8.0 percent drop in 2009. The rate of increase for the 2013 slowed to 0.7 percent following 1.5 percent in 2012.
The smoothed version of the barometer, which attempts to account for weekly volatility, declined by 0.1 percent to 98.3. Its year-over-year growth rate was 1.0 percent.
Posted: October 9, 2014 Thursday 10:00 AM